Wetsuit

ABSTRACT

A wetsuit includes a wetsuit jacket having a hem, wetsuit pants having an upper sack body, a strap portion of waterproof material provided on an inside circumference of the hem of the wetsuit jacket, a fixed portion at which an upper end of the strap portion is watertightly fixed to the inside circumference of the hem of the wetsuit jacket and press-on and split-off fastener tapes provided at portions of mutual contact in a state where the upper sack body is sandwiched between the hem and the strap portion for preventing deviation of the mutual contact portions.

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to JapanesePatent Application No. 2003-157576 filed on Jun. 3, 2003 and 2003-391347filed on Dec. 20, 2003, the entire disclosure of which are incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a wetsuit, and more particularly to aseparate type wetsuit including a wetsuit jacket potion and a wetsuitpants portion.

2. Description of Related Art

Conventional wetsuits are generally formed in a one piece, and a zipperprovided on the back thereof is utilized when putting on or taking off awetsuit. Since the zipper has no flexibility unlike the wetsuitmaterial, it is liable to break during the forward bending motion of thewearer and causes a low back pain (LBP). To solve these problems,Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3,007,334 discloses a two-piecewetsuit having a structure as shown in FIGS. 11(A)-(C). As shown inthese figures, the hem of a wetsuit jacket 31 and the upper sack body ofpants 33 are each provided with a folding allowance L (FIG. 11(A)).First, the folding allowances are overlapped (FIG. 11(B1)), and thenfolded back twice downward to be joined together in the so-called flatlock joint (FIG. 11(B2) and FIG. 11(B3)).

However, since the flat lock joint operation is cumbersome and requiresa technical skill, the wearer has encountered a difficulty in performingthe operation by oneself. Furthermore, since the portion of the flatlock joint comprises quintuple wetsuit materials, the wearer feels theportion rough and, during the wearer's activity, feels uncomfortable.Moreover, there is a possibility of the quintuple wetsuit materialportion being unfolded during the wearer's activity.

The description herein of advantages and disadvantages of variousfeatures, embodiments, methods, and apparatus disclosed in otherpublications is in no way intended to limit the present invention.Indeed, certain features of the invention may be capable of overcomingcertain disadvantages, while still retaining some or all of thefeatures, embodiments, methods, and apparatus disclosed therein.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been developedin view of the above-mentioned and/or other problems in the related art.The preferred embodiments of the present invention can significantlyimprove upon existing methods and/or apparatuses.

Among other potential advantages, some embodiments can provide a wetsuitcapable of easily joining a wetsuit jacket and wetsuit pants withoutperforming the flat lock joint operation making that portion quintupleand maintaining the highly watertight joint portion.

According to a first aspect of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, a wetsuit includes a wetsuit jacket having a hem, wetsuitpants having an upper sack body, a strap portion of waterproof materialprovided on an inside circumference of the hem of the wetsuit jacket, afixed portion at which an upper end of the strap portion is watertightlyfixed to the inside circumference of the hem of the wetsuit jacket, andpress-on and split-off fastener tapes provided at portions of mutualcontact in a state where the upper sack body is sandwiched between thehem and the strap portion for preventing deviation of the mutual contactportions.

According to a second aspect of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, a wetsuit includes a wetsuit jacket having a hem, wetsuitpants having an upper sack body, a first strap portion of waterproofmaterial provided on an inside circumference of the upper sack body ofthe wetsuit pants, a second strap portion of waterproof materialprovided on an inside circumference of the hem of the water suit jacketand press-on and split-off fastener tapes provided at portions of mutualcontact among the first strap portion, the second strap portion, theupper sack body of the wetsuit pants and the hem of the wetsuit jacketin a quadruple sandwich fashion for preventing deviation of the mutualcontact portions.

In the first or second aspect, the press-on and split-off fastener tapeshave a longitudinal length compensating for a variation of elongation ofa wearer. It is noted that the longitudinal length of the press-on andsplit-off fastener tapes falls within the range of the longitudinallength of the separate portion.

In the first or second aspect, the wetsuit jacket is formed ofpolychloroprene or other flexible material exhibiting same levels of awaterproof property and a heat-retention property as thepolychloroprene. The strap portion or the first and second strapportions of waterproof material is or are formed of a material identicalwith the material of the wetsuit jacket, and the wetsuit jacket andwetsuit pants each have a vertical dimension set so that the mutualcontact portions are positioned at a lumbar section of a wearer.

The first or second aspect further comprises an auxiliary belt to beprovided on the press-on and split-off fastener tapes provided on themutual contact portions and that is furnished with other press-on andsplit-off fastener tapes to fasten the upper sack body in cooperationwith the press-on and split-off fastener tapes.

The wetsuit further comprises press-on and split-off fastener tapesprovided at the hem of the jacket on a back of a wearer in the firstaspect, or at the second strap portion or the hem of the jacket on aback of a wearer in the second aspect, and press-on and split-offfastener tapes provided at opposite ends of the auxiliary belt forcooperating with the press-on and split-off fastener tapes to attainfixation.

According to a third aspect of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, a wetsuit includes separate portions into which hand parts orfoot parts of the wetsuit are separated, a strap portion of waterproofmaterial having an upper end, provided on an inside circumference of oneof the separate portions and a fixed portion at which the upper end ofthe strap portion is watertightly fixed to the inside circumference, thewetsuit manifesting a waterproof function in a state of the other of theseparate portions sandwiched between the one separate portion and thestrap portion.

According to a fourth aspect of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, a wetsuit includes separate portions into which hand parts orfoot parts of the wetsuit are separated, a first strap portion ofwaterproof material disposed on an inside circumference of one of theseparate portions, a second strap portion of waterproof materialdisposed on an inside circumference of the other of the separateportions and press-on and split-off fastener tapes provided at portionsof mutual contact among the first strap portion, second strap portion,one separate portion and other separate portion superposed in that orderfrom a side dose to a body of a wearer in a quadruple sandwich fashionfor preventing deviation of the mutual contact portions.

According to the present invention, there can be provided a wetsuitcapable of easily joining a wetsuit jacket and wetsuit pants withoutperforming the conventional flat lock joint operation making thatportion quintuple and maintaining the joint portion highly watertight

At the separate portion between the jacket and the pants, a variation inelongation of the wearer can be compensated for. In addition, thesandwiched portion is positioned at the lumbar section of the wearer toenhance the heat-retention effect at the lumbar section of the wearer.Furthermore, the effect of fastening the lumbar section of the wearer bythe auxiliary belt can expect the prevention of an LBP. Moreover, theauxiliary belt for fastening the upper sack portion of the pants canenhance the watertightness in conjunction with the press-on andsplit-off fastener tapes and, at the same time, enhance the effect ofpreventing deviation between the jacket and the pants to prevent theauxiliary belt and the wetsuit from being deviated

The above and/or other aspects, features and/or advantages of variousembodiments will be further appreciated in view of the followingdescription in conjunction with the accompanying figures. Variousembodiments can include and/or exclude different aspects, featuresand/or advantages where applicable. In addition, various embodiments cancombine one or more aspect or feature of other embodiments whereapplicable. The descriptions of aspects, features and/or advantages ofparticular embodiments should not be construed as limiting otherembodiments or the claims.

The above and other objects, characteristic features and advantages ofthe present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the artfrom the description to be give herein below with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown by way ofexample, and not limitation, in the accompanying figures, in which:

FIG. 1(A) is an entire schematic view showing a wetsuit according to oneembodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1(B) is an enlargedlongitudinal cross-section showing a portion B in FIG. 1(A);

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view illustrating the former part of how to puton the wetsuit shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3(A) is an explanatory view illustrating the latter part of how toput on the wetsuit shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3(B) is a perspective viewshowing an auxiliary belt used in FIG. 3(A);

FIG. 4(A) is an entire schematic view showing a wetsuit according toanother embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4(B) is anenlarged longitudinal cross-section showing a portion B in FIG. 4(A);

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view illustrating the initial part of how toput on the wetsuit shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5(A) being a front view thereofand FIG. 5(B) being a longitudinally sectioned side view thereof;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view illustrating the intermediate part of howto put on the wetsuit shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 6(A) being a front viewthereof and FIG. 6(B) being a longitudinally sectioned side viewthereof;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view illustrating the final part of how to puton the wetsuit shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 7(A) being a front view thereof andFIG. 7(B) being a longitudinally sectioned side view thereof;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view illustrating how to take off a wetsuitjacket shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 4, FIG. 8(A) being a front view thereofand FIG. 8(B) being a longitudinally sectioned side view thereof;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing a wetsuit having separated wristregions and separated ankle regions according to still anotherembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10(A1), FIG. 10(A2) and FIG. 10(A3) are schematic views showingdifferent examples of the wetsuit jacket according to the presentinvention, and FIG. 10(B1) and FIG. 10(B2) are schematic views showingdifferent examples of the wetsuit pants according to the presentinvention; and

FIG. 11(A) is an entire schematic view showing a conventional two-piecewetsuit, FIG. 11(B1), FIG. 11(B2) and FIG. 11(B3) are explanatory viewssequentially showing how to put on the wetsuit shown in FIG. 11(A), andFIG. 11(C) is an enlarged cross-section showing part of FIG. 11(B3).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following paragraphs, some preferred embodiments of the inventionwill be described by way of example and not limitation. It should beunderstood based on this disclosure that various other modifications canbe made by those in the art based on these illustrated embodiments.

The first embodiment of the wetsuit according to the present inventionwill be described with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3. In thisembodiment, the portion to which the present invention is applied is, asshown in FIG. 1(A), a separate portion B between a wetsuit jacket 3 andwetsuit pants 5 constituting a two-piece wetsuit 1A of waterproofmaterial.

As shown in FIG. 1(B), in the separate portion B, the hem of the wetsuitjacket 3 is provided on the inside circumference thereof with a strapportion 7 of waterproof material that has a vertical length in the rangeof about 20 to about 25 cm. The upper edge of the strap portion 7 isfixed by adhesion, fusion or other such means watertightly to the insidecircumference of the wetsuit jacket 3 to form a fixed portion 9 over theentire upper edge circumference of the strap portion 7.

When putting on the wetsuit, the upper sack body 11 of the wetsuit pants5 is sandwiched between the hem of the wetsuit jacket 3 and the strapportion 7 (FIG. 1(B)). Belcro® tapes 13 a and 13 b are providedrespectively at portions of contact between the inside of the hem of thewetsuit jacket 3 and the outside of the upper sack body 11 of thewetsuit pants 5. Incidentally, the sizes of the hem of the wetsuitjacket 3 and upper sack body 11 of the pants 5 are preferably madenarrower and tighter by about 5 to about 7 cm than those of aconventional wetsuit to attain the enhancement of waterproofness and theelimination of an LBP cause.

A Belcro® fastener 13 is one of the press-on and split-off typefasteners and comprises a piled cloth tape (female tape) and a rigidcloth tape (male tape) with projecting thread wire clasps. The two clothtapes are pressed on by hand against each other to attain fixation andare called magic tapes. The waterproof material for the strap portion 7is the same as the material for the wetsuit jacket 3 that ispolychloroprene. The vertical dimensions of the wetsuit jacket 3 andpants 5 are set so that the portion sandwiched between the cloth tapescan be positioned at the lumbar section of the wearer.

The Belcro® fastener 13 is provided at five places or so in thecircumferential direction and has a width of around 5 cm and a verticallength of around 12 cm. While these sizes are optionally determined,they are desirably sizes capable of compensating for a variation of theelongation of the wearer.

An auxiliary belt 15 for tightening the upper sack portion 11 of thepants 5 is disposed substantially at the center of the Belcro® fastener13 in the vertical direction thereof. The auxiliary belt 15 is provided,on the outside thereof, with another Belcro® tape 13 c to be in contactwith the Belcro® tape 13 a on the inside of the hem of the wetsuitjacket 3 to attain fixation and on the inside thereof with anotherBelcro® tape 13 d to be in contact with the Belcro® tape 13 b on theoutside of the upper sack body 11 of the wetsuit pants 5. Thus, theBelcro® tapes 13 c and 13 d also function to fix the opposite sides ofthe auxiliary belt 15 per se. The auxiliary belt 15 has elasticity largeenough not to afford uncomfortable feeling to the wearer during thewearer's activity.

Now, how to put on the two-piece wetsuit will be described. The wearerfirst puts on the pants 5 and then the jacket 3. Subsequently, thewearer rolls up the jacket 3 as shown in FIG. 2 to expose the strapportion 7, and then the strap portion 7 is deeply covered by the uppersack body 11 of the pants 5 (FIG. 3(A)). At this time, the oppositesides of the auxiliary belt 5 are fixed by means of the Belcro® tapes 13c and 13 d, and the Belcro® tape 13 d on the inside of the auxiliarybelt 15 is in contact with the Belcro® tape 13 b on the upper sack body11 of the pants 5 to fix the auxiliary belt and the upper sack body 11to each other.

In that state, the jacket 3 is rolled down. As a result, the Belcro®tape 13 c on the outside of the auxiliary belt 15 and the upper andlower portions of the Belcro® tape 13 b on the upper sack body 11 of thepants 5 not in contact with the Belcro® tape 13 d are in contact withthe Belcro® tape 13 a on the inside of the hem of the jacket 3 to fixthe jacket, auxiliary belt and pants altogether.

In this way, the jacket 3 and the pants 5 are easily joined togetherwithout performing the flat lock joint operation, thereby eliminatingthe formation of a material quintuple portion. In the quintuple portionof the material subjected to the flat lock joint operation (FIG. 11(C)),since the center doubled inside portion of the pants does not form anywater invasion route, the route ultimately assumes the letter Sdescribing 1.5 reciprocations of the vertical length of the flat lockjoint. On the other hand, the water invasion route of the presentinvention assumes the letter V describing a reciprocation of thevertical length of the sandwiched portion, thereby trapping water in thewater invasion route in the same manner as in the case of the S-shapedroute to expect substantially the same watertightness as in the case ofthe S-shaped route.

In the present invention, further watertightness can be secured in thepresence of the auxiliary belt 15. The auxiliary belt 15 can highlyprevent, in cooperation with the Belcro® fastener 13, the jacket 3 andthe pants 5 from being deviated to prevent deviation between theauxiliary belt 15 and the wetsuit 1A. With this, no deviation will ariseeven during the strenuous activity by the wearer. In addition, thevertical length of the Belcro® fastener 13 is set to be a sufficientlength of 12 cm, for example, to compensate for the variation inelongation of the wearer. Furthermore, the sandwiched portion ofpolychloroprene is positioned at the lumbar section of the wearer toheighten the heat-retention effect and enables an LBP from which awearer will suffer to be prevented.

While the number of the Belcro® fasteners 13 provided in thecircumferential direction is four or five in the present embodiment, itcan be three or less, or six or more. While in the present embodimentthe Belcro® fasteners 13 provided on the sandwiched portion arespecifically placed on the inside of the hem of the jacket 3 and on theoutside of the upper sack body of the pants 5, these can be placed onthe inside of the upper sack body 11 of the pants 5 and on the outsideof the strap portion 7, or on the four sides.

While the jacket 3 in the present embodiment has the long sleeves, itcan have short sleeves (FIG. 10(A2)) or no sleeve like a vest (FIG.10(A3)) besides a jacket with long sleeves (FIG. 10(A1)). The pants 5can be short-pants (FIG. 10(B2)) besides long pants (FIG. 10(B1)). Anycombination of the jackets 3 and pants 5 shown in FIG. 10 can optionallybe adopted.

While the auxiliary belt 15 is used in the present embodiment, it is notnecessarily required.

The second embodiment of the wetsuit according to the present inventionwill be described with reference to FIG. 4 to FIG. 8. In a separateportion B between a wetsuit jacket 3 and wetsuit pants 5 constituting awetsuit 1B of the second embodiment, the lower edge of a first strapportion B1 and the upper edge of a second strap portion B2 each ofwaterproof material are fixed by adhesion, fusion or other such meanswatertightly, respectively, to the inside circumference of an upper sackbody 11 of the pants 5 and to the insider circumference of a hem S11 ofthe jacket 3 to form fixed portions 9 over the entire circumferences ofthe first and second strap portions. Each of the first and second strapportions has a vertical length in the range of about 20 to about 25 cm.However, the strap portions may be formed integrally with the pants 5 orjacket 3.

The first strap portion B1, the second strap portion B2, the upper sackbody 11 of the pants 5 and the hem S11 of the jacket 3 are superposed inthe order mentioned from the side close to the body of a wearer, like aquadruple sandwich. Velcro® tapes B15 are provided as press-on andsplit-off fastener tapes between the adjacent portions. To be specific,the Velcro® tapes are provided on the outside of the first strap portionB1, on the outside and inside of the upper sack body 11 of the pants 5,on the outside and inside of the second strap portion B2 and on theinside of the hem S11 of the jacket 3 for the purpose of preventingmutual deviation so that these are in contact with one another.Incidentally, the sizes of the hem of the wetsuit jacket 3 and uppersack body 11 of the pants 5 are preferably made narrower and tighter byabout 5 to about 7 cm than those of a conventional wetsuit.

The waterproof material for the strap portions is the same as thematerial for the jacket 3 that is polychloroprene or other such flexiblematerial exhibiting the same levels of a waterproof property and aheat-retention property as the polychloroprene. The vertical dimensionsof the jacket 3 and pants 5 are set so that the sandwiched portion ofpolychloroprene or other such flexible material can be positioned at thelumbar section of the wearer.

The Belcro® tape B15 is provided at four places or so in thecircumferential direction including the back side of the wearer and hasa width of around 5 cm and a vertical length of around 12 cm. Whilethese sizes are optionally determined, they are desirably sizes capableof compensating for a variation of the elongation of the wearer.

Auxiliary belts 19 for tightening the upper sack portion 11 of the pants5 are disposed substantially at the center of the Belcro® tape B15 inthe vertical direction thereof. Each of the auxiliary belts 19 isprovided on the outside thereof with another Belcro® tape B15 to be incontact with the Belcro® tape B15 on the inside of the hem S11 of thewetsuit jacket 3 to attain fixation and on the inside thereof withanother Belcro® tape B15 to be in contact with the Belcro® tape B15 onthe outside of the upper sack body 11 of the wetsuit pants 5 to attainfixation. Thus, the Belcro® tapes B15 provided on the outside and insideof each auxiliary belt 19 also function to fix the opposite sides ofeach auxiliary belt 19 per se. The auxiliary belts 19 have elasticitylarge enough not to afford uncomfortable feeling to the wearer duringthe wearer's activity.

Each of the auxiliary belts 19 is also provided, at one end thereof,with a continuous Belcro® tape B15 that is in contact with and is fixedto the Belcro® tape B15 on the hem S11 of the jacket 3 or on the secondstrap portion B2 at the side of the back of the wearer. The wearer caneasily take off the jacket 3 by oneself by grasping the respective otherends of the auxiliary belts 19 in hand and pulling the other ends upwardover the wearer's shoulder.

It will be described how the two-piece wetsuit 1B is put on. The wearerfirst puts on the pants 5 and then the jacket 3. Subsequently, thewearer rolls down the upper sack body 11 of the pants 5 as shown in FIG.5 to expose the outside of the first strap portion B1 provided on theinside of the upper sack body. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the wearerrolls up the hem S11 of the jacket 3 to expose the outside of the secondstrap portion B2 and, at the same time, covers the first strap portionB1 by the second strap portion B2. The second strap portion B2 is thendeeply covered by the upper sack body 11 of the pants 5 (FIG. 7). At theupper and lower ends of the Belcro® tapes B15 in the vertical directionthereof the auxiliary belts 19 are fastened from above (FIG. 7). At thistime, the opposite sides of the auxiliary belts 19 are fixed by means ofthe Belcro® tapes B15 on the inside and outside of the auxiliary belts19. In addition, the Belcro® tapes B15 on the inside of the auxiliarybelts 19 is in contact with the Belcro® tape B15 on the upper sack body11 of the pants 5 to firmly fix the auxiliary belt and upper sack bodyto each other.

The hem S11 of the jacket 3 is rolled down, with the aforementionedstate maintained (FIG. 4 and FIG. 7), with the result that the Belcro®tape B15 on the inside of the hem S11 of the jacket 3 is brought intocontact and fixed to the Belcro® tapes B15 on the outside of theauxiliary belts 19 and to portions of the Belcro® tape B15 on the uppersack body 11 of the pants 5 not in contact with the Belcro® tapes B15 onthe inside of the auxiliary belts 19. In this way, the jacket 3 andpants 5 are joined together like a quadruple sandwich.

Generally, the wetsuit jacket 3 that has adhered to the back of thewearer due to the invasion of water is difficult to take off. Therefore,anyone will have to assist the wearer off with the wearer's jacket 3.However, the wearer can take off the jacket 3 of the wetsuit 1B withease in the second embodiment This will be described herein below.

The Belcro® tapes B15 at respective one ends of the auxiliary belts 19are fixed in contact with and as sandwiched between the Belcro® tapesB15 of the hem S11 of the jacket 3 and second strap portion B2 at theside of the back of the wearer. The wearer grasps the respective otherends of the auxiliary belts 19 in hand and pulls upward over thewearer's shoulder. As a result, the jacket 3 on the side of the back ofthe wearer can easily be rolled up. The jacket 3 on the side of thefront of the wearer is rolled up with both hands by the wearer. Thus,the wearer can take off the jacket 3 by oneself.

In this way, the jacket 3 and the pants 5 are easily joined togetherwithout performing the flat lock joint operation, thereby eliminatingthe formation of a material quintuple portion.

In the quintuple portion of the material subjected to the flat lockjoint operation (FIG. 11(C)) in Japanese Utility Model Registration No.3007334, since the center doubled inside portion of the pants does notform any water invasion route, the route ultimately assumes the letter Sdescribing 1.5 reciprocations of the vertical length of the flat lockjoint In the first embodiment, the water invasion route assumes theletter V describing a reciprocation of the vertical length of thesandwiched portion. On the other hand, in the second embodiment, thewater invasion rout assumes the letter N describing a reciprocation ofthe vertical length of the sandwiched portion (FIG. 4(B)), therebytrapping water in the water invasion route in the same manner as in thefirst embodiment to expect a higher level of watertightness than in thefirst embodiment.

In the second embodiment, further watertightness can be secured in thepresence of the auxiliary belts 19. The auxiliary belt 19 can highlyprevent, in cooperation with, the Belcro® tapes B15 the jacket 3 and thepants 5 from being deviated to prevent deviation between the auxiliarybelts 19 and the wetsuit 1B. With this, no deviation will arise evenduring the strenuous activity by the wearer.

In addition, the vertical length of the Belcro® tapes B15 is set to be asufficient length of 12 cm, for example, to compensate for the variationin elongation of the wearer. Furthermore, the sandwiched portion ofpolychloroprene or other such flexible material exhibiting the samelevels of a waterproof property and a heat-retention property as thepolychloroprene is positioned at the lumbar section of the wearer toenhance the heat-retention effect and enables an LBP from which a wearerwill suffer to be prevented by the effect of fastening the lumbarsection with the auxiliary belts.

While the number of the Belcro® tapes B15 provided in thecircumferential direction is four in the second embodiment, it can bethree, or five or more.

While in the second embodiment the six Belcro® tapes B15 are provided onthe sandwiched quadruple portion, specifically on outside of the firststrap portion B1, on the inside and outside of the second strap portionB2, on the outside and inside of the upper sack body 11 of the pants 5and on the inside of the hem S11 of the jacket 3, these can be placed onfive places or less, e.g., on the outside of the first strap portion B1,on the inside of the second strap portion B2, on the outside of theupper sack body 11 of the pants 5 and on the inside of the hem S11 ofthe jacket 3.

While the jacket 3 in the second embodiment has the long sleeves, it canhave short sleeves (FIG. 10(A2)) or no sleeve like a vest (FIG. 10(A3))besides a jacket with long sleeves (FIG. 10(A1)). The pants 5 can beshort-pants (FIG. 10(B2)) besides long pants (FIG. 10(B1)). Anycombination of the jackets 3 and pants 5 shown in FIG. 10 can optionallybe adopted.

While the auxiliary belts 19 are used in the second embodiment, it isnot necessarily required.

The third embodiment of the wetsuit according to the present inventionwill be described with reference to FIG. 9. The wetsuit 21 comprises amain body part 22, foot parts 23 and hand parts 24. It has separateportions B3 between itself and the foot parts and separate portions B4between itself and the hand parts. Each of the foot parts 23 is integralwith a boot, and each of the hand parts 24 is integral with a glove.While the wetsuit 21 is a one-piece one, it may be formed in a two-piecein the same manner as in the first and second embodiments. Onto each ofthe inside circumferences of ankle cuffs 27 of the main body part 22 iswatertightly fixed the upper edge of a strap portion 25, and the upperedge of a strap portion 28 is also watertightly fixed onto each of theinside circumferences of wrist cuffs 30 of the main body part 22. ABelcro® tape is provided on the outsides of the strap portions 25 and28, on the outsides and insides of the ankle parts 26 of the foot parts23, on the outsides and insides of the wrist parts 29 of the hand partsand on the insides of the ankle cuffs 27 and wrist cuffs 30 of the mainbody part 22 to fasten mutually overlapped surfaces therewith.Incidentally, the strap portions 25 and 28 may be fixed respectivelyonto the inside circumferences of the ankle parts 26 of the foot parts23 and onto the inside circumferences of the wrist parts 29 of the handparts 24.

The wearer puts on the main body part 22 and then the foot parts 23 andhand parts 24. Subsequently, the ankle cuffs 27 and wrist cuffs 30 ofthe main body part 22 of the wetsuit 21 are rolled up, and the ankleparts 26 of the foot parts 23 and wrist parts 29 of the hand parts 24are deeply covered by the strap portions 25 and 28 rolled downsrespectively. At this time, the Belcro® tapes disposed on the triplyoverlapped portions fasten therewith each surface of the triplyoverlapped portions, the foot parts 23 and hand parts 24 are joined tothe main body part 22 to thereby enable diving gloves and boots to beattached to and detached from the main body part 22 with ease.

While the third embodiment is directed to the case where the foot parts23 are integral with the boots at the parts lower than the ankle parts26 and the hand parts 24 are integral with the gloves at the parts lowerthan the wrist parts 29, the hand parts can be integral with the glovesat the parts lower than the elbows or upper arms, and the foot parts canbe integral with the boots at the parts lower than the knees or thighs.In addition, it will be all right that the hand and foot parts are notintegrated with the gloves and boots, respectively. The strap portionscan be provided not only on the main body part 23, but also on the ankleparts 26 of the foot parts and on the wrist parts 29 of the hand partsto thereby form quadruple overlapped joint portions. The surfaces onwhich Belcro® tapes are provided can be optionally adopted.

While the present invention may be embodied in many different forms, anumber of illustrative embodiments are described herein with theunderstanding that the present disclosure is to be considered asproviding examples of the principles of the invention and such examplesare not intended to limit the invention to preferred embodimentsdescribed herein and/or illustrated herein.

While illustrative embodiments of the invention have been describedherein, the present invention is not limited to the various preferredembodiments described herein, but includes any and all embodimentshaving equivalent elements, modifications, omissions, combinations(e.g., of aspects across various embodiments), adaptations and/oralterations as would be appreciated by those in the art based on thepresent disclosure. The limitations in the claims are to be interpretedbroadly based on the language employed in the claims and not limited toexamples described in the present specification or during theprosecution of the application, which examples are to be construed asnon-exclusive. For example, in the present disclosure, the term“preferably” is non-exclusive and means “preferably, but not limitedto.” In this disclosure and during the prosecution of this application,means-plus-function or step-plus-function limitations will only beemployed where for a specific claim limitation all of the followingconditions are present in that limitation: a) “means for” or “step for”is expressly recited; b) a corresponding function is expressly recited;and c) structure, material or acts that support that structure are notrecited. In this disclosure and during the prosecution of thisapplication, the terminology “present invention” or “invention” may beused as a reference to one or more aspect within the present disclosure.The language present invention or invention should not be improperlyinterpreted as an identification of criticality, should not beimproperly interpreted as applying across all aspects or embodiments(i.e., it should be understood that the present invention has a numberof aspects and embodiments), and should not be improperly interpreted aslimiting the scope of the application or claims. In this disclosure andduring the prosecution of this application, the terminology “embodiment”can be used to describe any aspect, feature, process or step, anycombination thereof, and/or any portion thereof, etc. In some examples,various embodiments may include overlapping features. In this disclosureand during the prosecution of this case, the following abbreviatedterminology may be employed: “e.g.” which means “for example;” and “NB”which means “note well.”

1. A wetsuit, comprising: a wetsuit jacket having a hem; wetsuit pantshaving an upper sack body; a strap portion of waterproof materialprovided on an inside circumference of the hem of the wetsuit jacket; afixed portion at which an upper end of the strap portion is watertightlyfixed to the inside circumference of the hem of the wetsuit jacket; andpress-on and split-off fastener tapes provided at portions of mutualcontact in a state where the upper sack body is sandwiched between thehem and the strap portion for preventing deviation of the mutual contactportions.
 2. A wetsuit, comprising: a wetsuit jacket having a hem;wetsuit pants having an upper sack body; a first strap portion ofwaterproof material provided on an inside circumference of the uppersack body of the wetsuit pants; a second strap portion of waterproofmaterial provided on an inside circumference of the hem of the watersuite jacket; and press-on and split-off fastener tapes provided atportions of mutual contact among the first strap portion, the secondstrap portion, the upper sack body of the wetsuit pants and the hem ofthe wetsuit jacket in a quadruple sandwich fashion for preventingdeviation of the mutual contact portions.
 3. The wetsuit according toclaim 1, wherein the press-on and split-off fastener tapes have alongitudinal length compensating for a variation of elongation of awearer.
 4. The wetsuit according to claim 2, wherein the press-on andsplit-off fastener tapes have a longitudinal length compensating for avariation of elongation of a wearer.
 5. The wetsuit according to claim1, wherein the wetsuit jacket is formed of material that ispolychloroprene or other flexible material exhibiting same levels of awaterproof property and a heat-retention property as thepolychloroprene, the strap portion of waterproof material is formed ofmaterial identical with the material of which the wetsuit jacket isformed, and the wetsuit jacket and wetsuit pants each have a verticaldimension set so that the mutual contact portions are positioned at alumbar section of a wearer.
 6. The wetsuit according to claim 2, whereinthe wetsuit jacket is formed of material that is polychloroprene orother flexible material exhibiting same levels of a waterproof propertyand a heat-retention property as the polychloroprene, the first andsecond strap portions of waterproof material are formed of materialidentical with the material of which the wetsuit jacket is formed, andthe wetsuit jacket and wetsuit pants each have a vertical dimension setso that the mutual contact portions are positioned at a lumbar sectionof a wearer.
 7. The wetsuit according to claim 1, further comprising anauxiliary belt that is provided on the press-on and split-off fastenertapes provided on the mutual contact portions and that is furnished withother press-on and split-off fastener tapes to fasten the upper sackbody in cooperation with the press-on and split-off fastener tapes. 8.The wetsuit according to claim 2, further comprising an auxiliary beltthat is provided on the press-on and split-off fastener tapes providedon the mutual contact portions and that is furnished with other press-onand split-off fastener tapes to fasten the upper sack body incooperation with the press-on and split-off fastener tapes.
 9. Thewetsuit according to claim 8, further comprising press-on and split-offfastener tapes provided at the hem of the jacket on a back of a wearerand press-on and split-off fastener tapes provided at opposite ends ofthe auxiliary belt for cooperating with the press-on and split-offfastener tapes to attain fixation.
 10. The wetsuit according to claim 8,further comprising press-on and split-off fastener tapes provided at thesecond strap portion or the hem of the jacket on a back of a wearer andpress-on and split-off fastener tapes provided at opposite ends of theauxiliary belt for cooperating with the press-on and split-off fastenertapes to attain fixation.
 11. A wetsuit, comprising: separate portionsinto which hand parts or foot parts of the wetsuit are separated; astrap portion of waterproof material having an upper end, provided on aninside circumference of one of the separate portions; and a fixedportion at which the upper end of the strap portion is watertightlyfixed to the inside circumference, whereby said wetsuit manifests awaterproof function in a state of the other of the separate portionssandwiched between the one separate portion and the strap portion.
 12. Awetsuit, comprising: separate portions into which hand parts or footparts of the wetsuit are separated; a first strap portion of waterproofmaterial disposed on an inside circumference of one of the separateportions; a second strap portion of waterproof material disposed on aninside circumference of the other of the separate portions; and press-onand split-off fastener tapes provided at portions of mutual contactamong the first strap portion, second strap portion, one separateportion and other separate portion superposed in that order from a sideclose to a body of a wearer in a quadruple sandwich fashion forpreventing deviation of the mutual contact portions.